The Los Angeles Dodgers are approaching the 2024 season like it's their last chance to compete for a World Series, clearly fueled by the disappointment of their playoff exits in the past three years. The Dodgers appear to be tapping into their limitless resources, which was clear when they managed to sign the biggest free agent perhaps in MLB history in Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal.

The contract Ohtani signed, deferments notwithstanding, now stands as the biggest in professional sports history, not just in professional baseball. That amount of money simply isn't something the average human can comprehend having. However, even a veteran Dodgers star in Clayton Kershaw, who's signed more than his fair share of huge contracts, couldn't wrap his head around the number of zeroes in Ohtani's deal with his beloved franchise.

“It's just so much money, isn't it? This is crazy,” Kershaw said on Dodgers Talk with David Vassegh via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

For reference, Clayton Kershaw has earned around $291 million during his 16-year stint with the Dodgers, so there are certainly levels to wealth in comparison to the deal Shohei Ohtani signed.

Ohtani is now set for life with the contract he signed; after all, he'll be earning $680 million of the $700 million he's set to make on his contract with the Dodgers for the next 10 years after his contract expires. He'll be earning a measly $2 million per year for the next 10 years so he could help the team build a contender, which may end up spurring some major changes to MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

However, Ohtani helping out the Dodgers in this big of a way could end up benefitting Clayton Kershaw too. Kershaw, despite being mum on his future plans, is a Dodgers legend through and through, so even with the team's other pursuits in free agency, one would think that LA will do whatever it takes to keep him in town.

Kershaw still pitched at a high level in 2023, putting up a pristine 2.46 ERA (137 strikeouts) in 131.2 innings of work. Given the Dodgers' need for quality starting pitching, the pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto shouldn't preclude them from keeping the legendary southpaw in the team he's called home since 2008.